Problem:
Death-row survivors have now been exonerated in 124 counties in 30 states, according to the Death Penalty Policy Project. More than half of those wrongful convictions come from 29 counties that have multiple death-row exonerations. While official misconduct and/or perjury was present in more than 3/4 of the cases in the counties with a single adjudicated death-row exoneration (72 of 95, 75.8%), that number was a staggering 90.3% of the cases (96 of 105) in the counties with multiple wrongful capital convictions. "What the evidence in these cases tells us is truly frightening," said Robert Dunham, the director of the Death Penalty Policy Project and a member of the Witness to Innocence board of directors. "It shows us that innocent people can be sentenced to death anywhere, and that most of the time the 'mistakes' in the case were not accidental. More and more egregious misconduct continues to be unearthed, even in cases that have already gone through the ordinary course of appeals, further undermining public trust in the legal process and further eroding public support for the death penalty across the country."